I havenít been following this story much recently (and frankly, itís been years since I studied it at all), but Kurdish nationalism has long been one of the few nationalisms for which Iíve ever had much sympathy. Theyíve always seemed to have gotten a raw deal as populations of other states in the region, and I donít really see any solution thatís likely to fix issues besides giving them their own. Unfortunately, itís unlikely any of Iraq, Iran, Syria, or Turkey would be happy about letting them go even under the best of circumstances, and these arenít the best of circumstances. Honestly, Iím not even sure how one would peacefully negotiate the independence of Kurdistan, and Donny Two Scoops definitely isnít capable of doing so. But the Kurds done so much to fight Daesh and have in general been one of our few reliable allies in the region; frankly, not helping them out would be extraordinarily ungrateful.

That said, Adamís assessment that this is foolish on everyoneís part seems pretty much correct Ė I donít see why the Kurds couldnít have waited until after Daesh was defeated to start seriously talking independence, and I donít see why Baghdad couldnít have done the same to respond.

Also, if you didnít see Samantha Beeís segment on the Peshmerga women, watch it now.